San Diego International Mariachi Summit Set to Kick Off in South Bay

CHULA VISTA, CA — The 2016 San Diego International Mariachi Summit, bringing together some of the brightest performers in the genre, is scheduled to begin Thursday evening.

The two-time Grammy winning Mariachi Divas de Cindy Shea will open the festival with a performance at 7 p.m. at Southwestern College. The troupe will celebrate the release of their new CD — "Tributo a Joan Sebastian y Rigoberto Alfaro."

Tickets are $20 and available on the website of the summit organizer, the Mariachi Scholarship Foundation, at MariachiSD.org. The website also includes a full schedule.

Highlights include a Friday night conversation with mariachi legend Ruben Fuentes, 90, the longtime director of Mariachi Vargas de Tecalitlan. His group, considered the greatest of the mariachi bands, will headline a joint performance on Sunday with the San Diego Symphony at Embarcadero Marina Park South.

That concert, which will celebrate the foundation's 20th anniversary, will also include the San Diego-based Mariachi Champana Nevin performing their "Concerto for Mariachi" and Orchestra "Pasion Mexicana."

— City News Service; Image via Wikimedia Commons